Hello and happy Sunday, travel friends, both near and far. Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, so we’re passing them along.
- The US National Parks suffered from overcrowding before 2019. When international travel ground to a halt, people looked for nearby outdoor destinations and the parks became even more popular. With summer travel in 2022 exceeding 2019 levels, many parks now require reservations to enter. Despite limiting the number of guests, the most popular parks are already very crowded, and it’s not even a busy season. So if you are planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite or Arches this summer, pack your patience and don’t be like these people who wrote negative reviews for the weirdest reasons after their visits.
- Even though American Express managed to get me back as a Platinum cardmember, I’m under no illusion that the annual credits offered by the card are the same as cash. So I wasn’t surprised to see that it took an entire article to show how you can get close to full value from the AMEX Business Platinum’s $400 Dell credit.
- Whenever you’re buying something online, you should always start your purchase through a shopping portal. Earning bonuses for purchases you’re already making is one way to add points to your accounts with little effort. I’ll admit that until reading this post, I forgot about going through a portal when booking travel (airlines, hotels and rental cars.)
- You need to protect yourself and your belongings when traveling. I was reminded of this when reading this story about someone having cash stolen from their in-room safe at the Grand Hyatt in Bangkok. There are several things to learn from the ordeal, but the most important thing to know is that your in-room safe isn’t that safe.
- When we write about lousy hotel rooms, it’s usually because there’s dust on the lamps or the faucet leaks. Fortunately, we haven’t stayed at any hotels recently with bloodstains, mold and an in-room rat trap. I think this hotel would be in the running for one of the worst hotels in the world on TripAdvisor. Even if your choices are limited, you can try to prevent staying at hotels like this by looking for these five red flags.
- TikTok has become a place where people can share travel tips. While some of the advice is good (and things we’ve known about for a while), other tips vary from misleading to outright false. For instance, this video claims airlines always owe you money if you’re bumped when it’s not that simple. The most recent “hack” is that you can fill a pillowcase with clothes to get around the carry-on requirement. Obviously, this TikToker has never met an American Airlines gate agent. :-)
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
